Crying Lightning Lyrics

Lyric discussion by jppj13 

Cover art for Crying Lightning lyrics by Arctic Monkeys

I think of you listen to the acoustic version of this song, it makes it alot clearer as to what its about. There's an extended verse and it goes;

"Well you were reading a book about some idiot, and telling me about another. I was so severely underwhelmed I thought I might never recover. Straighten the rutter girl and sail me upstairs, and go and find somebody who cares. Well we might not make the perfect partners but tonight we make the pair."

This verse implies that the girl Alex had been seeing before had a past lover (ex boyfriend) who she might not been able to get over. She still had interest in him. TO ALEX, her past times consisted of the strange, a twisted and deranged. This girl appears to show a great level of disinterest as his "thoughts get rude as she talks and chews on the last of her pecan mix" its kinda like she uses her phone when she's out with him.

Things also seem a bit awkward between the both as he wishes to postpone meeting with her. She's uninviting but not half as impossible as everyone assumes she is. Think about it. This girl underwhelmes him, disappoints him coz she can't shake off her emotions with her past lover and Alex is stuck in the middle and he's pits off and a little sad.

A writer or a poet usually are the socially awkward type. You can see this in interviews with Alex he usually has a hard time looking for things to say and people confuse this with being stuck up.

Definitely think you're right on with this...and it makes a ton of sense that it would be about Alexa given the timeframe...perhaps so much that it's completely wrong, but fun to speculate. Her "past times" would be referring to the guy she was dating before him who was 20 years older than her (and she was early 20's)...couldn't blame Alex for thinking it "strange and twisted, and deranged". It makes it seem that it's about him trying to be turned off based on that past, his preconceptions of her, not wanting to date a famous person and all,...

@jppj13 pecan mix!? haha definitely pick n mix!

@jppj13 pecan mix!? haha definitely pick n mix!